PUDUCHERRY: In an attempt to earn a brownie point for the upcoming parliamentary elections, all political parties have intensified their plea for granting medical seats' reservation to government school students in Puducherry. In a meeting held last month, L-G Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan advised the government to grant "appropriate" reservations to these students in medical admissions.
However, the percentage of reservations sought by each party is varying. While the BJP and Congress want 10%, the AIADMK and DMK are seeking 7.5%. Home Minister A Namassivayam who is also the leader of the BJP legislature, told TNIE, “We wish for a 10% reservation. However, the decision will be taken at a cabinet meeting after Chief Minister N Rangasamy returns from Delhi.” He also added that, with the admission process beginning shortly, the government will bring an ordinance based on the cabinet decision to give effect to the reservation.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK staged a demonstration on Tuesday seeking 7.5% reservation on similar lines as the previous AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu. Every year, around 40 students from Puducherry qualify for the NEET, but only three or four of them pursue medical education due to poor scores. By implementing reservation, around 28 students from government schools would get the opportunity, said AIADMK state (East) secretary A Anbalagan.
MP V Vaithilingam has also urged the Chief Minister to implement 10% reservation. It may be noted that the previous Congress-DMK government led by V Narayanasamy moved to provide 10% reservation through an ordinance after taking a cabinet decision. But the then L-G Kiran Bedi did not grant approval and it was sent to the union home ministry for approval. The proposal then went into cold storage and subsequently the government went out of power.